Lingzhi mushroom
The lingzhi mushroom is a polypore mushroom belonging to the genus Ganoderma. Its red-varnished, kidney-shaped cap gives it a distinct appearance. When fresh, the lingzhi is soft, cork-like, and flat. It lacks gills on its underside, and instead releases its spores via fine pores. Depending on the age of the mushroom, the pores on its underside may be white or brown. Lingzhi mushroom is used in traditional Chinese medicine. In nature, it grows at the base and stumps of deciduous trees, especially that of the maple. Only two or three out of 10,000 such aged trees will have lingzhi growth, and therefore its wild form is extremely rare. Today, lingzhi is effectively cultivated on hardwood logs or sawdust/woodchips. Taxonomy and Ecology It is part of a species complex that encompasses several fungal species. The most common and closely related species are Ganoderma lucidum (see also Scytalidopepsin B) and Ganoderma tsugae. There are multiple species of lingzhi encompassed within the Ganoderma lucidum species complex and mycologists continue researching the differences among species within this complex. Nomenclature Petter Adolf Karsten named the genus Ganoderma in 1881. English botanist William Curtis gave the fungus its first binomial name, Boletus lucidus, in 1781. The lingzhi's botanical names have Greek and Latin roots. Ganoderma derives from the Greek ganos (γανος; "brightness"), and derma (δερμα; "skin; together; shining skin"). The specific epithet, lucidum, is from Latin, meaning "shining". With the advent of genome sequencing, the genus Ganoderma has undergone taxonomic reclassification. Prior to genetic analyses of fungi, classification was done according to morphological characteristics such as size and color. The internal transcribed spacer region of the Ganoderma genome is considered to be a standard barcode marker. Varieties It was once thought that Ganoderma lucidum generally occurred in two growth forms: a large, sessile, specimen with a small or nonexistent stalk, found in North America, and a smaller specimen with a long, narrow stalk found mainly in the tropics. However, recent molecular evidence has identified the former, stalkless, form as a distinct species called G. sessile, a name given to North American specimens by William Alfonso Murrill in 1902. Environmental conditions play a substantial role in the lingzhi's manifest morphological characteristics. For example, elevated carbon dioxide levels result in stem elongation in lingzhi. Other formations include antlers without a cap, which may also be related to carbon dioxide levels. The three main factors that influence fruit body development morphology are light, temperature, and humidity. While water and air quality play a role in fruit body development morphology, they do so to a lesser degree. Habitat Ganoderma lucidum and its close relative, Ganoderma tsugae, grow in the northern Eastern Hemlock forests. These two species of bracket fungus have a worldwide distribution in both tropical and temperate geographical regions, growing as a parasite or saprotroph on a wide variety of trees. Similar species of Ganoderma have been found growing in the Amazon. In the wild, lingzhi grows at the base and stumps of deciduous trees, especially that of the maple. Only two or three out of 10,000 such aged trees will have lingzhi growth, and therefore it is extremely rare in its natural form. Today, lingzhi is effectively cultivated on hardwood logs or sawdust/woodchips. File:Ganoderma_lucidum-01.jpg|Young sporocarp File:Jreishi2.jpg|Grown lingzhi Mushroom File:Hokkaido_Reishi's_Deer_Horn_Shape_Reishi.JPG|Depending on environmental or cultivation conditions lingzhi may resemble antlers, with no umbrella cap. History ]] The word lingzhi (靈芝) was first recorded in a fu (賦; "rhapsody; prose-poem") by the Han dynasty polymath Zhang Heng (CE 78–139). His Xijing fu (西京賦) (Western Metropolis Rhapsody) contains a description of the 104 BCE Jianzhang Palace of Emperor Wu of Han that parallels lingzhi with shijun (石菌; "rock mushroom"): "Raising huge breakers, lifting waves, That drenched the stone mushrooms on the high bank, And soaked the magic fungus on vermeil boughs." The commentary by Xue Zong (d. 237) notes that these fungi were eaten as drugs of immortality. The Shennong bencao jing (Divine Farmer's Classic of Pharmaceutics) of c.200–250 CE, classifies zhi into six color categories, each of which is believed to benefit the qi, or "life force", in a different part of the body: qingzhi (青芝; "Green Mushroom") for the liver, chizhi (赤芝; "Red Mushroom") for the heart, huangzhi (黃芝; "Yellow Mushroom") for the spleen, baizhi (白芝; "White Mushroom") for the lungs, heizhi (黑芝; "Black Mushroom") for the kidneys, and zizhi (紫芝; "Purple Mushroom") for the Essence. Commentators identify the red chizhi, or danzhi (丹芝; "cinnabar mushroom"), as the lingzhi. }} While Chinese texts have recorded medicinal uses of lingzhi for more than 2,000 years, a few sources erroneously claim its use can be traced back more than 4,000 years. Modern scholarship accepts neither the historicity of Shennong, "Divine Farmer", (legendary inventor of agriculture, traditionally c. 2737–2697 BCE) nor that he wrote the Shennong bencao jing. The (1596) Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica) has a Zhi (芝) category that includes six types of zhi (calling the green, red, yellow, white, black, and purple mushrooms of the Shennong bencao jing the liuzhi (六芝; "six mushrooms") and sixteen other fungi, mushrooms, and lichens, including mu'er (木耳; "wood ear"; "cloud ear fungus", Auricularia auricula-judae). The author Li Shizhen classified these six differently colored zhi as xiancao (仙草; "immortality herbs"), and described the effects of chizhi ("red mushroom"): Stuart and Smith's classic study of Chinese herbology describes the zhi. }} The Bencao Gangmu does not list lingzhi as a variety of zhi, but as an alternate name for the shi'er (石耳; "stone ear", Umbilicaria esculenta) lichen. According to Stuart and Smith, In Chinese art, the lingzhi symbolizes great health and longevity, as depicted in the imperial Forbidden City and Summer Palace. It was a talisman for luck in the traditional culture of China, and the goddess of healing Guanyin is sometimes depicted holding a lingzhi mushroom. Regional names | oc-zz = | altname = Chinese name | t2 = 靈芝 | s2 = 灵芝 | p2 = língzhī | j2 = ling4 zi1 | w2 = ling2-chih1 | hangul = 영지 | hanja = 靈芝 | rr = yeongji | mr = yŏngji | kanji = 霊芝 | hiragana = れいし | katakana = レイシ | revhep = reishi | tha = หลินจือ | rtgs = lin chue | vie = linh chi | chunom = 靈芝 }} ; Chinese The name of the lingzhi fungus has a two thousand-year-old history. The Old Chinese name was first recorded during the Han dynasty (206 BC – 9 AD). In the Chinese language, ( ) is a compound. It comprises ( ); "spirit, spiritual; soul; miraculous; sacred; divine; mysterious; efficacious; effective)" as, for example, in the name of the Lingyan Temple in Jinan, and ( ); "(traditional) plant of longevity; fungus; seed; branch; mushroom; excrescence"). Fabrizio Pregadio notes, "The term zhi, which has no equivalent in Western languages, refers to a variety of supermundane substances often described as plants, fungi, or 'excrescences'." Zhi occurs in other Chinese plant names, such as ( ; "sesame" or "seed"), and was anciently used a phonetic loan character for ( ; "Angelica iris"). Chinese differentiates Ganoderma species into ( ; "red mushroom") G. lucidum, and ( ; "purple mushroom") G. japonicum. Lingzhi has several synonyms. Of these, ( ; "auspicious plant") ( ; "auspicious; felicitous omen" with the suffix ; "plant; herb") is the oldest; the Erya dictionary (c. 3rd century BCE) defines , interpreted as a miscopy of ( ; "mushroom") as ( ; "mushroom"), and the commentary of Guo Pu (276–324) says, "The [zhi] flowers three times in one year. It is a [ruicao] felicitous plant." Other Chinese names for Ganoderma include ( ; "auspicious mushroom"), ( ; "divine mushroom", with shen; "spirit; god' supernatural; divine"), ( ) (with "tree; wood"), ( ; "immortality plant", with xian; "(Daoism) transcendent; immortal; wizard"), and ( ) or ( ; "mushroom plant"). Since both Chinese ling and zhi have multiple meanings, lingzhi has diverse English translations. Renditions include "zhi possessed of soul power", "Herb of Spiritual Potency" or "Mushroom of Immortality", "Numinous Mushroom", "divine mushroom", "divine fungus", "Magic Fungus", and "Marvelous Fungus". ; English In English, lingzhi or ling chih (sometimes spelled "ling chi", using the French EFEO Chinese transcription) is a Chinese loanword. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) gives the definition, "The fungus Ganoderma lucidum, believed in China to confer longevity and used as a symbol of this on Chinese ceramic ware.", and identifies the etymology of the word as Chinese: líng, "divine" + zhī, "fungus". According to the OED, the earliest recorded usage of the Wade–Giles romanization ling chih is 1904, (Victoria and Albert Museum); This context describes the lingzhi fungus and ruyi scepter as Daoist symbols of longevity on a jade vase. and of the Pinyin lingzhi is 1980. In addition to the transliterated loanword, English names include "glossy ganoderma" and "shiny polyporus". ; Japanese The Japanese word ( ) is a Sino-Japanese loanword deriving from the Chinese ( ; ). Its modern Japanese kanji, , is the shinjitai ("new character form") of the kyūjitai ("old character form"), . Synonyms for reishi are divided between Sino-Japanese borrowings and native Japanese coinages. Sinitic loanwords include literary terms such as ( , from ; "auspicious plant") and ( , from ; "immortality plant"). The Japanese writing system uses or ( ) for "grass; lawn; turf", and take or ( ) for "mushroom" (e.g., shiitake). A common native Japanese name is ( ; "10,000-year mushroom"). Other Japanese terms for reishi include ( ; "departure mushroom"), ( ; "sage mushroom"), and ( ; "grandchild ladle"). ; Korean The Korean name, ( ; ) is also borrowed from, so a cognate with, the Chinese word ( ; ). It is often called yeongjibeoseot ( ; "yeongji mushroom") in Korean, with the addition of the native word ( ) meaning "mushroom". Other common names include ( , ; "elixir grass") and ( ; ). According to color, yeongji mushrooms can be classified as ( ; ) for "red", ( ; ) for "purple", ( ; ) for "black", ( ; ) for "blue" or "green", ( ; ) for "white", and ( ; ) for "yellow". ; Thai The Thai word ( ) is a compound of the native word ( ) meaning "mushroom" and the loanword ( ) from the Chinese ( ; ). ; Vietnamese The Vietnamese language word is a loanword from Chinese. It is often used with , the Vietnamese word for "mushroom", thus is the equivalent of "lingzhi mushroom". Use Medicinal Ganoderma lucidum produces a group of triterpenes called ganoderic acids, which have a molecular structure similar to that of steroid hormones. It also contains other compounds often found in fungal materials, including polysaccharides (such as beta-glucan), coumarin, mannitol, and alkaloids. Sterols isolated from the mushroom include ganoderol, ganoderenic acid, ganoderiol, ganodermanontriol, lucidadiol, and ganodermadiol. A 2015 Cochrane database review found insufficient evidence to justify the use of G. lucidum as a first-line cancer treatment. It suggests that G. lucidum may have "benefit as an alternative adjunct to conventional treatment in consideration of its potential of enhancing tumour response and stimulating host immunity." Existing studies do not support the use of G. lucidum for treatment of risk factors of cardiovascular disease in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Culinary Because of its bitter taste, lingzhi is traditionally prepared as a hot water extract product. Thinly sliced or pulverized lingzhi (either fresh or dried) is added to boiling water which is then reduced to a simmer, covered, and left for 2 hours. The resulting liquid is dark and fairly bitter in taste. The red lingzhi is often more bitter than the black. The process is sometimes repeated to increase the concentration. Alternatively, it can be used as an ingredient in a formula decoction, or used to make an extract (in liquid, capsule, or powder form). The more active red forms of lingzhi are far too bitter to be consumed in a soup. Lingzhi is now commercially manufactured and sold. Since the early 1970s, most lingzhi is cultivated. Lingzhi can grow on substrates such as sawdust, grain, and wood logs. After formation of the fruiting body, lingzhi is most commonly harvested, dried, ground, and processed into tablets or capsules to be directly ingested or made into tea or soup. Other lingzhi products include processed fungal mycelia or spores. References * Category:Dietary supplements Category:Fungi described in 1781 Category:Fungi of Asia Category:Fungi of Europe Category:Fungi used in traditional Chinese medicine Category:Ganodermataceae Category:Medicinal fungi Category:Non-timber forest products